CJI Surya Kant tells law students courts will protect protests

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday, 26 September 2026, held an unfiltered open-house interaction with students at Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) in Patna, where he said the judiciary will not look the other way when students' fundamental right to peaceful protest is infringed. The university called it the first such live, unfiltered session by a sitting CJI. The question referred to the Jantar Mantar protests against NEET paper leaks led by the Cockroach Janata Party, according to the Times of India and Hindustan Times.

On Collegium transparency, the CJI said disclosure of dissenting opinions could place a judge in an untenable position and harm personal dignity. He backed a proposal by CNLU Vice-Chancellor Faizan Mustafa to compress the five-year law degree into four years with mandatory court apprenticeship in the final year, calling it a new, welcome idea. The CJI also referred to a Supreme Court order supporting a professional assistance fund for first-generation lawyers and said concerns over rising tuition fees would be addressed.